Egypt Plans To Build Nuclear Plants

October 30, 2007|By JEFFREY FLEISHMAN Los Angeles Times

CAIRO, EGYPT — President Hosni Mubarak announced Monday that Egypt, which lacks the oil reserves of some of its Middle East neighbors, would build several nuclear power plants to meet rising energy demands.

The statement was made in a nationally televised address and seemed to have twin purposes: overhaul an energy policy to keep pace with economic growth and support his son, Gamal, who has stressed the need for nuclear power and who many analysts regard as a front-runner to succeed the 79-year-old president.

"We believe that energy security is a major part of building the future of this country and an integral part of Egypt's national security system," Mubarak said in remarks at an electrical power plant under construction outside Cairo.

The president said the program would seek the backing and help of the United Nations' International Atomic Energy Agency and countries such as the U.S., which gives Cairo nearly $2 billion annually in military and economic aid.

Egypt's nuclear announcement comes as Washington has imposed new economic sanctions on Iran for its nuclear program, which the Bush administration claims is seeking atomic weapons to destabilize the region.

Tehran says its program is for civilian purposes only.

In Washington, State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said the U.S. would not object to Egypt's program as long as Cairo adhered to the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and International Atomic Energy Agency guidelines.

"For those states who want to pursue peaceful nuclear energy ... that's not a problem for us," McCormack said, according to The Associated Press.

Egypt has been conducting nuclear research but is believed to be 10 years away from putting a reactor on line.

The country, which abandoned its atomic aspirations after the radiation leak at Chernobyl in 1986, has yet to enrich uranium, a key component of a nuclear program.

The Egyptian economy has been growing between 5 percent and 7 percent annually in recent years. The government is reforming economic regulations in an effort to spur foreign investment and be more competitive in a region facing immense poverty balanced against the skyscrapers and success of countries such as the United Arab Emirates.

Energy officials estimate that at current production rates Egypt's oil and gas reserves will dwindle in less than 50 years.